Posted: Sun 16 Mar 2008, 08:35 Post subject:
Do you still use Windows sometimes? And why?

Hi, I'd like to know, if you still use Windows beside Puppy.

erikson wrote:

By now I am running two Puppy flavors from pendrive, with multi-boot option (standard Puppy 3.01, pcPuppyOS rc6, or WinXP from hard disk), and I find that I'm now using WinXP for barely 10% of the time.

I use windows a few times a week. There are some hardware devices (cameras, mp3 players) that will not work with linux, they just charge from usb instead of being able to access the internal discs so windows for those. Bluetooth for my phone (pics, ringtones).
I find video editing a lot easier in windows. I have used adobe premier for many years and nothing in the linux or windows freeware domain comes close yet.
Games! There are lots of windows games i like and they either do not work or I am too lazy to configure wine properly for them.
I only go on the net with puppy and its the only thing i use unless its for something specific._________________Download a better Computer Puppy Linux Songwww.letterbyletter.co.uk

Well my story is a sad one..I bought a shiny new lappy (HP Compaq nx 9420) with all the bells and whistles so I could run XP Pro fast and it came with a free upgrade to Vista(the free upgrade ended up costing me $65CDN..and XP is not fast..sheesh).

Anyway I was looking for a free disk partitioner and found Puppy....Gparted did exactly what I wanted it to do but the side effect was I loved Puppy and slowly migrated to it and haven't needed all those bells and whistles on my shiny new lappy...rats.

If we are talking what would be good for new pups, then for me bluetooth would be great, as I just want my bluetooth headset and a mouse to connect...not so much my phone. I seem to have a problem getting BT to work.

I find XP Pro a true multi-tasking OS because every time I start into Windows I find it's better to walk away for a half hour and do something else while it boots and updates and..and..and

The wife on the other hand still needs her genealogy programs, but MU's setup in Mini-Muppy for GRAMPS sounds great...I haven't had time to go after that yet but it looks good. I would love to see a puplet specifically for genealogists with Gramps and database etc as default software..then you'll see Windows go to the dust bin here (and I suspect also my wifes colleagues).

Photo editing is better in M$..Adobe Elements and Photoshop with IrfranViewer(IViewer) is what the wife uses here.

Best,
Eric_________________Be not afraid to grow slowly, only be afraid of standing still.
Chinese Proverb

My old 400mhz computer has Windows98 (not SE). I run several versions of Puppy from CD's. I use Windows to print to an Epson 7000CX in another room, attached to a Windows XP machine (my wife's). I have had big trouble printing using SAMBA and CUPS. Of course, walking a few feet into the other room is another solution.

The first is Calendar Creator Plus, going back to 1993. I have not been able to find a Linux program that give me the Print options that CC+ does.

The second is Cadrail by Sandia Software. I use it for my hobby of model railroading. Yes there are Linux programs that are similar, but they do not come anywhere near the needs I have like Tom's program does.

I still use windows more than puppy, by necessity. First, let me qualify "windows." I have an extremely small, simple, fast, windows, a "vestigial" 98se less IE and less practically every file I don't need. Uses 95 explorer as in 98Lite. (At least the file sysyem is intelligible :-) No frills, no multimedia, no AV and never a virus. (Postini, no IE, and hardware router are responsible.) I have not reinstalled windows in over 5 years except from a ghost image.

Why do I have to use windows? Familiarity is one thing. If one has been speaking English all his life he does not switch to French without a performance hit. But the main thing is applications. For example -

Quickbooks is needed in our small business.

I have written and publish numerous books, mostly in WordPerfect. These have to be periodically revised and reprinted. They are heavily integrated with graphics and not practically transferable to any other word processor. Of course they are in pdf but sometimes the source is needed. (Also, I like WordPerfect.)

Many windows programs are superior. Take for a small example the freeware image browser/viewer Faststone. Nothing comes close to it. Run it in wine? Maybe - the last time I tried it partially worked.

The workarounds to use windows programs in linux have so far not been satisfactory for me. Inefficient, awkward, incomplete. (My experience, but why should one have to use windows programs anyway?)

Drivers - I have a perfectly satisfactory scanner (Epson 4800) that will not work with linux. I would have to replace it, integrate it and learn a new, probably inferior interface.

The reader component of the ancient Acrobat 4 I use in windows is vastly superior to the slow and awkward default pdf reader in puppy.

I've used Eudora email for about a dozen years and have large files going back that far. Yes, it is possible to convert the files, even to Opera linux, but I always end up keeping Eudora for safety and simplicity.

Having said all that, I still have made every effort to adapt and use puppy, appreciate its general superiority, and enjoy using NOP 3.01 rev 5 nearly every day.

I use no Microsoft programs whatsoever except what little remains of 98se. That was the last one I got.

The only two things I have used Windows for this semester are to run Quartus and to print. The printing is only because I broke CUPS a while back and haven't gotten around to fixing it. Last semester I had it working great though, and I think the newer Puppies even include all the stuff I need for my printer. Someday I'll get around to making it work again. But for now, it doesn't really matter because every time I need to print corresponds with a time when I need to run Quartus.

I have no idea if there are Linux alternatives to Quartus, but it doesn't matter anyways. We're using it in class, so I need to use it at home too. Actually, if I hit it hard enough I could probably get it running in Wine. I tried once and got it mostly working, but it died when I tried compiling a circuit.

Two other programs I sometimes use Windows for are Ruckus (school gives us a free account ) and BYOND (which I had mostly working in Wine until they upgraded to version 4...) I did use Windows for a couple days to play the trial version of WOW, just to see what all the fuss was about (impressive, but I don't have the time or money to play).

All the references above are to XP. I do have 98SE still installed on my other computer (dual boot, Puppy is main os), and I plan to keep it out of nostalgia. Yesterday was actually the first time I even booted 98 since at least August. The only reason I did it was to defrag the harddrive so I could resize the partition._________________Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. --Muad'DibLast edited by Pizzasgood on Sun 16 Mar 2008, 15:29; edited 1 time in total

Quake4:
There is a Linux installer.
Simply google for "quake4 Linux" to find all the mirrors (the one from ID-software usually is overloaded and slow).
You need the Windows retail-CD for it.
Requires the manufacturer-drivers from Ati or Nvidia.
It works slow but playable on a Pentium 700 with 1 Gig Ram and a Ati Radeon 9250.
But only in Puppy1, in Puppy 2 it crashes after 10 minutes.
Even in Puppy1 I have to restart after playing one hour.
I was not able to compile the last available driver for the 9250 in Puppy 3.
These cards are still sold, so this is pretty poor from Ati that they dropped driversupport for it.

With newer cards you can use new Ati-drivers (that do not support old cards like my 9250 any more). Maybe they work better.

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forumYou cannot attach files in this forumYou can download files in this forum